D.C. property records show that the townhouse was sold to Ryun for $410,000 on December 15, 2000. According to the Post, the USFN (US Family Network) purchased the townhouse for $429,000; the deed was signed January 12, 1999.

“Property sold to a member of Congress at substantially under market value can, in some instances, be construed as a de facto gift. In this case, that would be from the Buckham-controlled and Abramoff-client-funded front group USFN to Rep. Ryun,” writes Kiel

Naomi Seligman of CREW told TPMmuckraker.com that Ryun's house deal should prompt a House Ethics Committee investigation. "Who else in America has lost money on a real estate transaction except [Cunningham contractor felon] Mitchell Wade?"

U.S. Family Network (USFN)has been described as a "slush fund" for funds from special interests to DeLay projects.

Founded as a non profit in 1996 by Edwin Buckham, the USFN claimed to be a conservative grassroots lobbying organization created to promote "economic growth and prosperity, social improvement, moral fitness, and the general well-being of the United States." But its donor list suggests otherwise. Nearly the entire organization was funded by a few corporate and special interests that had no incentive to promote the USFN's purported goals. Most were also clients of Jack Abramoff.

Don Boucher, an appraiser who focuses on residential properties in the D.C. area, said that the property should have appreciated â€œabout 15% or more during that time period, meaning that it would have sold around $500,000.

Another appraiser, who preferred to remain anonymous because he often works with members of Congress, said that the townhouse should have appreciated "by $100,000 at least." He said the low sale price "wouldn't make sense at all unless there was a fire and the place was gutted." He added, "It looks like they gave it away."

There's also a question of whether the house was ever actually formally put on the market as opposed to being sold to the Ryun's in a private sale.

Using data from the US Government, we find that, given what was happening in the DC housing market, a house bought for $429,000 in Q1 of 1999 would have appreciated to about $530,000 by Q4 of 2000. That matches the intuition of DC area assessors.

By that standard, the house could have been worth as much as $1.2 million by the end of 2005. The DC assessor's office tallied it as worth about $920,000 for 2007 tax purposes.